We’ve just returned from a boy- and dog-sitting visit to Sheffield, where one of our sone lives. They have had some building work done recently, which has enabled a certain amount of rearrangement of furniture. I was startled, walking into what I suppose one might call the lounge, to see that his pictures have been … Read more
The latest on-line project from the Ilkley Art School arrived in my email inbox yesterday. (I must say they are doing an excellent job in trying to substitute for our classes missed as a result of the pandemic.) We are asked to sit in front of the TV and, after doing some warming-up exercises, try … Read more
It isn’t possible to live in Bradford without being aware of David Hockney. We have the David Hockney Gallery in Saltaire, a room devoted to his work in the city’s main art gallery, and a website entitled “Not just Hockney” to remind the world that the artistic life of the city is not exhausted by … Read more
I have to admit it. I really don’t “get” Cezanne.* I’m not sure why, but it’s true. Several years ago (I think it was probably about 2012) I saw the large exhibition of his portraits at the National Portrait Gallery, in London, and I remember remarking on my own perplexity and dissatisfaction on that occasion. … Read more
I’m writing this as I am about to leave for the weekly life-drawing class I attend. I always look forward to it, and it is always able to offer an interesting challenge. The instructor invariably has some new medium or approach he wants us to try. I never have the faintest idea what will be … Read more
We are very fortunate in Bradford to have an institution, in the suburb of Shipley, called “Salt’s Mill”.* This was one of the most impressive of the Victorian textile mills that provided the spine of the area’s industrial strength until the 1960s. Then the building was bought by a visionary individual called Jonathan Silver, who … Read more